Working Together to Tackle Poverty in Lewisham
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Working together to tackle poverty in Lewisham The final report of the Lewisham Poverty Commission October 2017 Contents Foreword 3 1. Introducing the Poverty Commission: a realistic but ambitious approach 4 The Commission 4 Focusing on poverty 4 The role of Lewisham Council in tackling poverty 5 Action at a local level 5 Working together to tackle poverty 5 2. Poverty in Lewisham 6 Lewisham and its people 6 The impacts of poverty 6 Quantifying poverty in Lewisham 8 The difficulties in getting well-paid, secure work 10 Children living in poverty 13 The price of unaffordable housing 14 The Commission’s focus 14 3. Supporting residents to access well-paid, secure jobs inside and outside of Lewisham 15 Works, skills and the role of anchor institutions 15 Recommendations 17 4. Tackling child poverty by supporting parents into decent work 20 Child poverty, child care and lone parent unemployment 20 Recommendations 21 5. Improving the local housing market 23 Housing in Lewisham 23 Recommendations 24 6. Strengthening support within communities 27 Increasing community resilience 27 Recommendations 29 7. Working together to tackle poverty: next steps and implementation 31 An immediate response 31 Change across the community 31 Advising national government 31 Staying the course 31 Appendix 1: Listening to Lewisham’s people and its organisations 32 Our approach to consultation and engagement 32 Further data and evidence 33 Summary of comments received from residents 34 2 Foreword Lewisham is a great place to live, with a strong and diverse community. Yet, despite being situated in the heart of London, on the doorsteps of one of the wealthiest cities in the world, tens of thousands of Lewisham residents live in poverty. There is a wealth of evidence of the damage poverty does. We know child poverty is associated with lower educational achievement, and it prevents kids from fulfilling their potential. We know poverty is linked to poor physical and mental health, and to shorter life expectancy. We know poverty is often inter-generational, with people growing up poor being more likely to suffer from poverty later in life. And we know that high levels of inequality; with significant wealth alongside poverty, is a cause of significant social ills. A fundamentally unequal society can never be a good society. Lewisham has a proud record of fighting poverty. We are proud that we were the first council to become an accredited Living Wage employer, and since we introduced a business rate incentive, the number of Living Wage employers locally has rocketed. We’ve seen strong employment growth, with the Council helping hundreds of residents into work in recent years. Yet despite our efforts, poverty in Lewisham remains stubbornly high. And we know things may get worse. The Government’s failure to tackle the housing crisis has been a driver of poverty in London. Their welfare freeze has led directly to an increase in poverty both for those who can’t work, and those in work on low pay. And the Government’s huge cuts to Lewisham Council’s funding limit what we can do to tackle poverty. But we know there is more that we can do. That’s why the Safer Stronger Select Committee called for a Commission to review our approach. This report is the outcome of the Lewisham Poverty Commission. It has involved a new approach; with Councillors working alongside local stakeholders and national experts to look at the nature of poverty in Lewisham, assess what we’re currently doing and what other councils are doing, and develop a comprehensive plan to tackle the scourge of poverty. We’ve spoken to residents affected by poverty, we’ve sought input from across the community, and we’ve come up with some recommendations which we think are ambitious but practical and which we hope can make a real difference. We’ve focused on four areas; supporting residents to access decent work; tackling child poverty; improving the local housing market; and strengthening support within communities. In each area, we’ve made recommendations which we hope the current Mayor and the next Mayor will implement. But we can’t do this alone. If we are to make a real impact, we will need to work with local partners, and we will need to continue to push for changes in Government policy. I am grateful to Safer Stronger Select Committee for proposing this commission, to our Mayor Sir Steve Bullock for asking me to Chair it, to everyone who fed in and to our fantastic officers for their support – particularly Simone van Elk. But most of all, I’m hugely grateful to all our commissioners who gave their time and their significant expertise. We all share a commitment to tackling poverty. It’s what drives us. We hope that the work of the Lewisham Poverty Commission can help us tackle the scourge of poverty in our community. Councillor Joe Dromey, Chair of the Lewisham Poverty Commission 3 1. Introducing the Poverty Commission: a realistic but ambitious approach The Commission Tackling poverty, deprivation and inequality is at the heart of Lewisham Council’s vision for a resilient, healthy and prosperous borough. With this in mind, Lewisham Council agreed to convene the Lewisham Poverty Commission to understand and tackle the poverty faced by residents and communities in Lewisham, bringing Council representatives together with partner organisations of the Council. The Commission is a group of local councillors and poverty experts that have come together to consider how poverty can be tackled in the borough. Its members are: Alice Woudhuysen (Child Poverty Action Group) Bharat Mehta (Trust for London) Bill Davies (Central London Forward) Councillor Brenda Dacres Claire Mansfield (New Local Government Network) Councillor Colin Elliot Debbie Weekes-Bernard (Joseph Rowntree Foundation) Gloria Wyse (Lewisham Citizens) Councillor James J-Walsh Councillor Joan Millbank Councillor Joe Dromey (Chair) Councillor Joyce Jacca Dr Simon Griffiths (Goldsmiths) Focusing on poverty Poverty is complex and multidimensional. The Commission has used the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s definition, where poverty is a situation in which ‘a person’s resources (mainly their material resources) are not sufficient to meet their minimum needs (including social participation)’.1 In this definition, ‘needs’ encompass both basic material goods and the ability to participate in social life. The term ‘resources’ refers to the financial and in-kind means necessary to meet these needs. In-kind resources may be formal goods and services (those provided by a local authority, for example) or informal goods and services (accessed via social networks or community organisations, for example). The principal aim of the Commission has been to agree recommendations to alleviate poverty in Lewisham, mitigate against its negative effects and strengthen people’s resilience. The Commission has prepared this final report following several months of research and public consultation. The process involved a qualitative study of the lived experience of poverty in Lewisham; analysis of quantitative data and existing literature on poverty; discussions at local assemblies across the borough; an online consultation; a summit which brought together communities and wider stakeholder representatives from across the borough.2 This report summarises the Commission’s findings on poverty in Lewisham and presents their recommendations to the Council and partners. 1 See www.jrf.org.uk/report/definition-poverty. 2 A full methodology can be found as Appendix 1. 4 The role of Lewisham Council in tackling poverty Many of the Commission’s recommendations are naturally directed at Lewisham Council. The Commission recognises that local authorities have a significant impact on the lives of their residents through the many services they provide, commission and facilitate – examples include children’s centres, the provision of temporary accommodation and employment support programmes. The Commission also recognises the good work Lewisham Council has been doing for many years to tackle poverty and support its residents who are dealing with the consequences. However a local authority by itself can only do so much, particularly given the government’s deep cuts to local government budgets since 2010; cuts which are set to continue. In this context, the Commission has worked to create recommendations to the Council that are ambitious but realistic. Action at a local level The borough contains many significant publicly funded institutions aside from the Council including a world class university, social housing providers, a large further education college as well as a large NHS trust. All provide important services for the citizens of Lewisham including education, housing and care. These organisations also make up a significant proportion of local employment and are significant sources of investment in the local area. The Commission has therefore also looked at positive steps these organisations, together with the Council, can take to tackle poverty. Working together to tackle poverty The Commission has been keenly aware that local authorities also have a significant role to play in their local area by bringing local partners together to tackle pressing issues. This report therefore sets out ambitious actions for Lewisham Council and other local partners which we hope can make a real difference to the lives of local people. Nevertheless there are limits to what local organisations can do by themselves to tackle the problem of poverty in Lewisham. Some of the barriers faced by the poorest Lewisham residents can only be removed through changes in policy by national government. The Commission therefore also calls on national government to play their part: to support people that desperately need it and to create the conditions that enable individuals, local communities and local organisations to solve poverty. Poverty can be tackled but only if we all work together. 5 2. Poverty in Lewisham Lewisham and its people Figure 1.